Disclaimer: All the opinions expressed in this article are
the opinions of Dr. Seshadri Kumar alone and should not be construed to mean
the opinions of any other person or organization, unless explicitly stated
otherwise in the article.

*********************************

Some time back, one of my cousins, an American, who was planning an
Indian-themed function in California for a mostly non-Indian guest list, wanted
me to suggest a list of Indian classical tracks that she could play for an hour
during the function as an introduction to Indian classical music, and which she
could then gift to all the guests as a CD when they left. She also requested me
to give some introductions for the pieces to be read out before the pieces were
played, so that the audience knew something about what they were hearing. The
idea was to include the introductions along with the CD as liner notes. One
stipulation was that all the tracks should be available on iTunes.

I thought this was an interesting endeavor, and once I finished the
recommendations and the write-ups on the different pieces and sent it off to my
cousin, thought they were worth sharing with a larger audience. Today, I
finally found time to convert that list into an article. I hope you will enjoy
reading this list and listening to these pieces, if you haven’t already done
so. Keep in mind that the numbering only denotes the play order, reflecting my
preference as to how to gradually expose the audience to different pieces, and
does not imply that any of these recordings (or artists) is superior to any
other in the list. The introductions also ended up being a bit long to read
before the recordings were played, so I suggested that an abbreviated version
be used in the announcement and that this full version be included in the liner
notes.

Keep in mind, as you read this list, that these are not always the “best”
possible selections that I could give for all the artists, if I were free to choose
the source. I was constrained by what iTunes had in its collection. For
example, if I had to give an absolute recommendation for Vilayat Khan, I would
always go with his 1960 recording with Samta Prasad of raga Yaman; however,
unfortunately, iTunes does not have this recording.

Notes:

Hindustani = North Indian classical music

Carnatic = South Indian classical musicFormat of the List:

Play Order (Number)Artist: GenreRagaTrackAlbumTrack durationDescriptionYoutube link

Note 1: I have tried to match the track and album names exactly with how iTunes
lists them, even though the latter are sometimes slightly wrong.

Note 2: The youtube links are a later addition. After I posted this article, some friends said they would find it useful if I also gave them youtube links in addition to iTunes references. This proved to be much more difficult than it would seem, because whatever is available on iTunes is not necessarily available on youtube, and vice versa. In fact, if I had been told at the start to give youtube links, I would probably come up with a different list, simply because you can only make a list of what is available. So, in some cases, the iTunes track was simply not available on youtube, and so I gave a different song by the same artist as a replacement on youtube.

1.M S Subbulakshmi:
Carnatic, vocalRaga: Hamir

Track: Baso more man mein nandlal Album: Meera4.49

MS Subbulakshmi was one of the legends of Carnatic music, and no
representative sampler of Indian music is complete without her. Born in 1916
into a musical family in the south Indian temple town of Madurai, MS (as she
was popularly known) was a child prodigy, giving her first concert at the Mecca
of Carnatic music, Madras, in the most esteemed music society, the Music
Academy, at the age of 13. But MS shot to national fame when she sang the songs
in the musical on the life of the 16th century saint, Meera, the princess who
was a devotee of the god Krishna and spent her life composing songs in praise
of Krishna and singing them. MS also acted as Meera in the movie. The movie was
made both in Tamil and Hindi, with the Tamil songs being set to Carnatic music
ragas and the Hindi songs being set to Hindustani music ragas. MSS delivered
brilliantly on the songs in both movies, which became superhits because of her
songs.

As a result of the popularity of Meera, MS became a nationally-renowned
figure. She was also a great follower of Gandhi, and she and her husband
devoted their lives to social causes. Despite being the most sought-after
Carnatic musician all her life, MS lived a very simple life and donated a large
portion of her earnings to charitable causes. She was Gandhi's favorite singer.
Once, Gandhi expressed a desire to hear his favorite devotional song,
"Vaishnava jana to tene kahiye" (liberal translation: "who can
be called a person of God" – a composition by the saint Narsinh Mehta)
sung by MS at a function. To this, MS telegrammed back that her throat was not
in perfect shape and so maybe Gandhiji should perhaps ask someone else to sing
the song. Gandhi's reply: "I would prefer to hear it spoken by
Subbulakshmi rather than sung by someone else."

MS is most famous for her rendition of devotional songs, even though she
could sing Carnatic and Hindustani songs of any sub-genre impressively and with
elan. She was the first woman to be awarded the Music Academy's highest title,
the "Sangeetha Kalanidhi," and the first musician to receive India's
highest civilian honor, the "Bharat Ratna." Most temples all over
South India, including the famous temple at Tirupati, even today, play her
devotional "suprabhatams" (morning wake-up hymns to the gods) on
their PA systems every day.

I have chosen this selection from the movie Meera because

It is an exquisite rendition which
showcases both the technical brilliance of MS (as witnessed in how she sings
the phrase "nandalaala") as well her ability to convey emotion, and

It showcases how MS, although coming
from a Carnatic background, is able to sing this Hindustani raga, Hamir, in
which this song is set, as well as or better than the best of the Hindustani
musicians. This is my first reference when I want to explain raga Hameer to
anyone, even before such classic renditions as DV Paluskar's. This is why great
contemporary Hindustani musicians like Pandit Jasraj bow their heads in
reverence when talking about MS even today.

2.Bhimsen Joshi:
Hindustani, vocalRaga: Puriya KalyanTrack: Raga Puriya Kalyan Dhrut Khyal in Teentaal Bahut Dina Beete Album: Tapasya4.45Bhimsen Joshi was one of the giants of Hindustani music. He ran away from
home at the age of nine to pursue a career in music after hearing an extended
play record of the great Abdul Karim Khan, founder of the Kirana school of
singing in Hindustani music.

Bhimsen learned from Abdul Karim Khan's most prominent student, Sawai
Gandharva, and after his training quickly shot to fame as the greatest
Hindustani singer of his time. The name "Bhimsen" comes from Hindu
mythology, from a hero in the epic Mahabharata, who was supposed to have
"the strength of ten thousand elephants." While the name Bhimsen
might have a poor choice for this short and small-built musician in a physical
sense, it was certainly highly appropriate for his voice, which is probably the
most powerful yet expressive voice ever seen in the world of Hindustani music.

The school of music from which Bhimsen graduated was famous for its
treatment of the major, "great," ragas of Hindustani music such as
Lalit, Todi, Bhairav, Yaman, and so on. The sheer emotional content and
note-perfection that Bhimsen brought to his music, accompanied by his
inimitable power of voice production and his brilliant technique, was what made
him a perennial crowd favorite. Bhimsen organized an annual three-day music
festival in Pune in memory of his guru, Sawai Gandharva, in which he would
perform as the last musician - the Sawai Gandharva music festival. In 2010, he
was too ill to perform, and died shortly after. But I do recall an incident
from that year's festival, which I attended, which testifies to his immense
popularity. On the last day of the function, between some music performances,
there was a dance performance scheduled, and the organizers needed some time to
set the stage. To keep the audience entertained, they played a RECORDING of a
performance of Bhimsen at the festival from 30 years back for about 15 minutes.
That 30-year old recording got more applause than any musician had gotten for
the past three days!!

The selection I have recommended is another "great" raga,
Puriya Kalyan, and this is Bhimsen at his very best.

3.Ravi Shankar:
Hindustani, sitarRaga: Bairagi TodiTrack: Raga Bairag Todi: jod, jhalaAlbum: Spirit of India4.09Ravi Shankar is probably the best-known Indian musician in the world. It
is probably no exaggeration to say that if people in the west know about Indian
classical music, it is largely because of Ravi Shankar.

Born in a family of talented people - his elder brother Uday Shankar was
a world-renowned dancer - Ravi Shankar picked up the basics of music touring
with his brother's music and dance troupe. But what made him one of the
greatest Hindustani sitarists was his seven-year tutelage under Allauddin Khan,
probably the most influential instrumental Hindustani musician of the 20th
century.

Because of his experience touring all over the world with his brother,
Ravi Shankar understood the west better than any other musician in India and,
after establishing himself as a sitar player of repute in India, set his sights
on conquering the west, which he proceeded to do remarkably well, because of
his ability to connect with his audience. Not only did he give a lot of
concerts in the west, he also took the trouble to conduct innumerable
lecture-demonstrations in which he explained the basis of the Indian musical
system to his audience. He also took on westerners as his students and started
teaching them how to play the sitar. But probably what made him a superstar in
the west was the fact that the Beatles were enamoured of him and one of them,
George Harrison, actually became his disciple. And then there was no turning
back.

Ravi Shankar also started the trend of giving importance to the
accompanying tabla player. Before Shankar, the only role of the tabla player
was to stay in the background and keep time. Shankar started the tradition of a
"sawal-jawab" (question-answer) as a routine feature in instrumental
concert, in which the main instrumentalist would play a phrase and the
accompanist would try to imitate it on the tabla. Shankar also, probably
inspired by the Carnatic tradition, gave the tabla player an occasion to play
the tabla by himself during his performance, without having to accompany the
main instrumentalist, so that he, too, had a chance to showcase his
virtuousity.

This selection showcases what was special about Shankar's music. The raga
chosen, Bairagi Todi, is a very austere and serious raga, and Shankar brings
this mood alive with his "dhrupad-like" treatment of the raga (more
on this later in the discussion on the Dagar brothers). The bass notes of the
sitar are highlighted in this treatment, which is deep and meditative in spite
of the fact that the tempo increases.

4.TR Mahalingam:
Carnatic, fluteRaga:
KathanakuthoohalamTrack: Raga: Kathanakuthoohalam in Adi Raghuvamsa SudhambudhiAlbum: TR Mahalingam6.22TR Mahalingam (popularly known as Mali) was the greatest player ever of
the South Indian bamboo flute, and probably the most creative Carnatic musician
ever. He was also a child prodigy who gave his first concert at the age of 7
and stunned the musical world with his absolute command of the flute at that
tender age. Not only was it remarkable that he could play the flute so well at
that age, but also that a young child like him was capable of opening up new
vistas with the instrument. Before Mali arrived on the scene, the flute was not
considered capable of rendering the melodic richness of Carnatic music.
Specifically, characteristic "bends" known as "gamakas"
were considered impossible of production with the flute. Mali changed all that
by innovating, untutored, a new style, in which the flute was capable of
rendering all the nuances of Carnatic vocal music.Mali also managed to give concerts which delighted a hugely diverse
cross-section of listeners. He was capable of extraordinary technical feats,
such as maintaining his control of rhythm in exceedingly complex patterns and
in very slow tempo; and, at the same time, he would always include crowd
favorites in his concerts, which both the lay listener and the connoisseur
could appreciate.The selection I have included here is one such example of a crowd
favorite. "Raghuvamsa sudhambudhi" is a very popular composition that
is often rendered in high speed; yet Mali plays this in a slow tempo, thus
bringing out the beauty of the raga. One of the highlights of Mali's music was
his originality; he rarely played the same phrase twice in different
performances of the same composition.

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvEj00ShMA45.Vilayat Khan:
Hindustani, sitarZakir Hussain:
Hindustani, TablaRaga: Bhairav BaharTrack: Raga Bhairav Bahar: Gat in fast teen tal (excerpt)Album: Dawn to dusk: Aftaab-e-Sitar Vilayat Khan9.58Vilayat Khan was born to a family of hereditary musicians. His father and
grandfather were both musicians at royal courts, and were both recognized
masters of the sitar as well as innovators.Along with Ravi Shankar, the other man who also dominated the world of
Hindustani sitar for the second half of the twentieth century was undoubtedly
Vilayat Khan. The two were considered rivals. Playing in a style totally
different from that of Shankar, Vilayat Khan dazzled listeners with his
matchless technical mastery of the sitar. This mastery manifested itself in two
ways: an ability to play breathtakingly fast passages without the slightest
flaw; and an ability to coax so much melody and beauty from the strings of the
sitar that it sounded like a human voice's inflections. In fact, one of the
things that Vilayat Khan routinely did in concerts was to sing a phrase (he
could sing very well, too) and then reproduce the same phrase on the sitar
perfectly, upon which the audience would burst into applause. For this reason,
his style is often referred to as the "gayaki" ang -
"gayaki" means "like singing."Zakir Hussain, who accompanies Vilayat Khan here on the tabla, is India's
most famous tabla player, and is usually capable of astonishing pyrotechnic
displays, but usually plays in a more subtle and understated way when
accompanying Vilayat Khan. This is actually one of Hussain's strengths as an
accompanist: to change his playing style to suit the main artist.This selection showcases a fast piece which allows us to understand why
Vilayat Khan was considered such a phenomenon for his control of his instrument
and his skill in extracting such nuances from it.

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TACzDvw50o6.MS Gopalakrishnan:
Carnatic, violinRaga: NataTrack: Raga Nata: Mahaganapathim manasa smaramiAlbum: Masterworks from the NCPA archives: MS Gopalakrishnan (remastered)8.54One of the most interesting cross-cultural observations in Indian music
is how the violin, an instrument totally alien to India before the arrival of
western influence, has become an integral part of Carnatic music. Among the
many extraordinary practitioners of Carnatic music on the violin, if one must
limit oneself to discussing one person, as I am forced to by time constraints,
then that person has to be undoubtedly MS Gopalakrishnan, popularly referred to
as MSG, in the usual fashion of referring to Carnatic artists by their
initials.MSG learned Carnatic music from his father before going on to learn
Hindustani music from the famous Hindustani vocalist Omkarnath Thakur at
Benares and then going on to improve upon his father's style with innovations
of his own to create a new style of violin-playing now often referred to as the
"Parur" style, Parur being the name of his ancestral town. This style
is characterized by a very light touch on the violin; extraordinary control and
fidelity of playing; astounding displays of skill and speed; and a generous use
of staccato.This selection is a popular introductory composition played often at the
beginning of a concert, and has considerable scope for the violinist to play
purely improvised note-passages (known as "swara-prasthara"). The
full range of the MSG repertoire is in abundant display here.Owing to his training in both styles of Indian classical music, MSG has
recorded several albums in Hindustani music as well. This is extremely rare -
for a musician to be in the top echelon in both Carnatic and Hindustani music.

Youtube:I could not find this Nata recording on youtube. A different recording of the same piece was too short to appreciate the beauty and skill of MSG's violin-playing. So I found a different piece – quite a rarity, in fact – in another raga. This is a recording of raga Nalinakanti, the piece being the famous “Manaviyalakincharadatay” of Tyagaraja, and what makes it so rare is that it is a recording of MSG playing with his father, Parur Sundaram Iyer).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=823uFFoaLGc&list=PL9Pv-NfsEItkt5n6_No0Z9QLSHLVe2WnV&index=207.Hariprasad
Chaurasia: Hindustani, fluteShivkumar Sharma:
Hindustani, santoorBrijbhushan Kabra:
Hindustani, Hawaiian guitarRaga: Nat BhairavTrack: Raga Nat Bhairav - Call of the ValleyAlbum: Kohinoor single6.20Hariprasad Chaurasia is one of the most popular Indian musicians today.
His skill in playing the north Indian bamboo flute, the Bansuri, is legendary.
He was a student of Annapurna Devi, daughter and disciple of Allauddin Khan,
Ravi Shankar's guru.In India, the bansuri is associated with the mythology of the god
Krishna, who is said to have charmed all the cowgirls of Vrindavan by the sound
of his bansuri. If anyone can bring that story to life, it surely is Hariprasad
Chaurasia. Someone closing his eyes and listening to Chaurasia could be
forgiven for thinking that he had died and gone to heaven to hear the god
Krishna play.The person who was responsible for taking this cowherd's toy and making
this a concert instrument was Pannalal Ghosh, who made several innovations and
improvements to this instrument. Ghosh modeled his playing on vocal styles. But
Chaurasia changed the way the bansuri was perceived. He started performing on
the bansuri the way one would perform on a sitar, a sarode, or a rudra veena:
with an alap-jod-jhala structure, a solo extemporization that involves a slow,
rhythmless improvisation (alap), a rhythmic improvisation without table in
medium speed (jod), and a fast rhythmic improvisation without tabla (jhala). In
stringed instruments, the jhala is achieved by fast repeated strumming of the
strings. Chaurasia achieved the same effect on the flute by using an innovative
combination of fast staccato blowing and flutter-tonguing.Accompanying Chaurasia on this recording are Shivkumar Sharma on the
santoor and Brijbhushan Kabra on Hawaiian guitar. Shivkumar Sharma was
singlehandedly responsible for elevating the santoor, a hammered folk
instrument of Kashmir, to the status of a classical instrument. This was no
mean feat because the santoor is inherently a discontinuous instrument, and so
to coax the bends that are an indispensable part of Indian classical music out
of the instrument required Sharma to develop innovative techniques such as fine
trilling using minute hammering on the strings to approximate the bends
(gamakas). In this endeavor he has mightily succeeded, as his immense
popularity as a Hindustani instrumentalist has proved.The album from which this track has been taken, "Call of the
Valley," was a landmark album when it was released in 1967. The hallmark
of this album is that even though it is based on traditional Hindustani ragas,
the melodies presented and their pleasing treatment by Chaurasia, Sharma, and Kabra
made this album one of the most accesible to the layperson. "Call of the
Valley" has been described as the one Indian classical-based album that a
person should listen to if he or she could listen to only one.

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIxAZ-VISQI8.Sheik Chinna Moula:
Carnatic, nadhaswaramRaga: Kapi NarayaniTrack: Sarasa sama dana Album: Paddhati: live in concert 19734.44Sheik Chinna Moulana was one of the most eminent performers of the
nadhaswaram, an instrument traditionally associated with the temple.
Nadhaswaram performances were normally held with no amplification because the
nadaswaram is a very loud instrument. This made it ideal for use in street
performances with no amplification. For this reason as well, it is not
accompanied by the usual drum of Carnatic music, the mridangam, but by a much
louder drum, the thavil.Sheik Chinna Moulana was probably the most skilled nadhaswaram artist of
his time. The nadhaswaram is an exceedingly difficult instrument to play
flawlessly. Small imperfections in note production are almost inevitable even
in the performance of legendary nadhaswaram artists. But I have never
personally heard Sheik Chinna Moulana play a false note in any recording of
his, regardless of the tempo of the piece being played, which is a staggering
achievement. You can hear his astounding technical skill in this recording.
This is in addition to his ability to convey the soul of every raga he played
with unerring precision.It is also an interesting social comment to note that this instrument,
which is so closely connected with the temple and with Hindu religious
practices (no South Indian Hindu wedding is complete without one, for
instance), has been embraced so fervently and has been played with such
perfection by a Muslim musician.

Youtube:(Note: I could not get this particular piece on youtube while searching for it. So I have chosen another excellent recording by Sheik sahib, of the great gem in raga Abheri by Tyagaraja, “Nagumomu.” I have given the link from the start of the krithi, but you are of course welcome to hear from the beginning of the alapana. This song showcases Sheik-sahab’s incredible skill – note the passages near “khagaraju.”)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-ch6XtrT7E&feature=player_detailpage&list=PLgdbLnfoyI7_8Upl2viQECzyHdQp4Xr1r#t=7919.Dagar Brothers:
Hindustani, vocal, dhrupad styleRaga: BhatiyarTrack: Dhrupad in Chautala, raga BhatyarAlbum: Shiva Mahadeva6.21Hindustani vocal music has two major sub-traditions: khyal, which is the
predominant tradition, and which is sung by the majority of vocalists today, (including
the late Bhimsen Joshi, mentioned above), and which is characterized by a
jazz-like free-form improvisation structure within the framework of a rhtyhmic
cycle; and dhrupad, a tradition that is more structured than khyal and does not
permit as much creative freedom, but compensates for this by perfection and beauty
in melody. Dhrupad was the predominant tradition 400 years ago in the golden
days of Hindustani music in the Mughal courts. In the last century and half,
dhrupad has gradually given way to khyal in popularity.There are very few surviving practitioners of dhrupad, and the most
prominent practitioners of dhrupad in the last century have been the Dagar
family of hereditary musicians, who have preserved an unbroken tradition for 20
generations. The Dagars are the custodians of one of the four major schools
("vani"-s) of Dhrupad singing, known eponymously by their family
name, Dagarvani. The other three traditions are the Gauharvani, the Nauharvani,
and the Khandarvani. This recording is sung by Nasir Zahiruddin Dagar and Nasir Faiyazuddin
Dagar, also known as the "junior Dagar brothers," as a contrast to
their two elder brothers, Nasir Moinuddin Dagar and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, who
also performed as a pair, and who were known as the "senior Dagar
brothers." The four Dagar brothers were the most famous dhrupad singers of
the second half of the twentieth century.This particular piece is sung in the highly austere raga Bhatiyar, and is
a hymn in praise of the god Shiva (known also as Shankar). The perfection of
melody that is seen in any Dagar presentation of any raga is evident when they
sing the base note (sa) of the higher octave - the phrase "kailasi"
in this song which goes higher than the sa and ends on the sa note at the end
of this phrase. A dhrupad performance in any raga is generally considered to be the
definitive interpretation of the raga, and this recording is no exception. One
cannot find a better example of raga Bhatiyar than this - so beautifully have
Nasir Zahiruddin Dagar and Nasir Faiyyazuddin Dagar rendered this raga in this
piece.

Youtube:As in other cases, I could not find this exact piece on youtube. So I have a chosen an alternative – raga Malkauns, “poojana chali Mahadeva.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMJcP7oUCrY10.Bismillah Khan:
Hindustani, shehnaiV.G. Jog:
Hindustani, violinRaga: Mishra KhamajTrack: Raga Mishra Khamaj in Vaishnav jan to tene kahiyeAlbum: Gandhi: speeches, bhajans, and inspirations7.08Bismillah Khan was one of the iconic figures of Hindustani music. He was responsible
for single-handedly elevating the status of the shehnai, a reed instrument that
was only used as an accompaniment to marriages, to a classical concert
instrument. He did this by applying the techniques of vocal music to the shehnai and
by his sheer technical brilliance, which helped him to play the shehnai with the
full expression of a sitar, a sarode or the human voice.Bismillah Khan also took popular "dhuns" (folk songs) and often
played them with elaborate improvisations, something that delighted both
commoner and connoisseur alike.In another salute to India's syncretic traditions and to the tremendous
respect that all Indians had for Bismillah Khan, he was a regular performer at
the Kashi Vishwanath temple in the city of Benares, one of the most sacred
temples of Hinduism and a highlight of the city of Benares, where Bismillah
Khan lived all his life, even though he was a Muslim. Khan has said on record
that the two reasons he would never leave Benares (and indeed, he died there)
were the river Ganga and the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which to him was a second
home.VG Jog was one of the most important and distinguished violinists of
Hindustani music in the last century, having learned music from Allauddin Khan,
who taught many other greats including, as mentioned earlier, Ravi Shankar.The composition they play here is the same "Vaishnava jana to"
alluded to earlier that was so beloved by Gandhi.

2 comments:

Great work, SK. It's a very good selection with a wide range of styles and personalities.

I have only one quibble. If this is intended for a non-Indian audience, then it would help if you used Western equivalents wherever possible to bridge the semantic gap. For example, you could define a 'raag' as a 'scale' with whatever extra constraints apply. This would make the concept more readily understandable. I am by no means an expert in either tradition, but have heard more knowledgeable people discussing such matters, such as 'Indian classical music does not have the concept of harmony', etc. So maybe explaining elements of Indian classical music by comparing and contrasting with equivalents from Western classical may help a non-Indian audience understand them more easily.

I accept the suggestion on using terms like scale as rough equivalents when explaining this to a western audience. However, that said, I cannot give a full introduction to Indian classical music in this document. The idea here was just to familiarize an audience with ICM. The method I am using is direct immersion. It is not very important here that the audience even understands what "raga" means. What is important that they hear different pieces and get a rough idea of what Indian classical music is.

This is not to say that what you are suggesting is not necessary - and I have myself spent much time doing that - teaching classes to non-Indians to explain Indian classical music to them - and in those classes, you do discuss melody, harmony, scales, ragas, etc. It is true that there is no harmony in ICM (though most Indians, who do not even know what harmony is, sometimes get offended by the statement needlessly.) But I cannot spend time on explaining all these in this document, which is just a list of great pieces with some descriptions.